Univision Deportes, ESPN Agree To Deal To Increase El Tri's Exposure In U.S.

Univision Deportes and ESPN have formalized an alliance to increase the reach of the Mexican national football team in the U.S. The agreement grants ESPN’s English-language networks and digital platforms the media rights to Mexico’s home FIFA World Cup qualifying matches and int'l friendlies. The English-language coverage will complement Univision’s Spanish-language coverage of the Mexican team on broadcast, cable and interactive platforms. As part of the agreement, Univision Deportes and ESPN have secured the U.S. media rights to all of Mexico’s home matches, both qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and int'l friendlies, in Spanish and English respectively. The alliance will also allow Univision Deportes and ESPN to collaborate on special content focused on the Mexican national team. The series of 20 matches began Wednesday when Mexico played Denmark in Phoenix, U.S. Univision Deportes will continue to broadcast Mexican national team matches in Spanish across Univision Network, UniMás and Univision Deportes Network with additional content on its digital and social platforms (Univision Deportes).